Each phase of Arab-Israeli peacemaking has been inordinately difficult in its own right, and every critical juncture and decision point in the long process has been shaped by U.S. politics and the U.S. leaders of the moment. The Peace Puzzle tracks the American determination to articulate policy, develop strategy and tactics, and see through negotiations to agreements on an issue that has been of singular importance to U.S. interests for more than forty years.

In 2006, the authors of The Peace Puzzle formed the Study Group on Arab-Israeli Peacemaking, a project supported by the United States Institute of Peace, to develop a set of "best practices" for American diplomacy. The Study Group conducted in-depth interviews with more than 120 policymakers, diplomats, academics, and civil society figures and developed performance assessments of the various U.S. administrations of the post–Cold War period. This book, an objective account of the role of the United States in attempting to achieve a lasting Arab–Israeli peace, is informed by the authors’ access to key individuals and official archives.

Introduction: The Decline of American Mideast Diplomacy1. Opportunities Created, Opportunities Lost: Negotiations at Oslo and Madrid2. Within Reach: Israeli- Syrian Negotiations of the 1990s3. The Collapse of the Israeli- Palestinian Negotiations4. George W. Bush Reshapes America's Role5. The Annapolis Denouement6. Obama: An Early AssessmentEpilogue: Lessons Learned and UnlearnedNotesIndex

The Peace Puzzle

"The collective Middle East experience of the authors is unsurpassed. Their analysis is terse, and their portrait of U.S. efforts to broker Arab-Israeli peace is bleak.... The authors assert that American policymakers must address the core issues, transform their natural bias toward Israel into a positive factor, recapture bipartisan resolve to tackle the issue, maintain continuity across administrations, and persuade the Israelis and the Palestinians that Washington understands and respects their fundamental interests."

- Foreign Affairs

The Peace Puzzle

"The originality of this new book is to propose a distanced analysis that draws on 120 interviews with the implied decision-makers of American political involvement in the Middle East from 1989-2011...The authors take care to compare the remarks of their interviewees with available official documents, journalist investigations, as well as already-publicized testimonies. The result is a study that draws constantly on its foundational material, citing interviews that support and enrich the argument."

- Politique Américaine

The Peace Puzzle

"A must-read for anyone who desires to truly understand this critical and complex quest for Middle East peace."

- Israel Book Review

The Peace Puzzle

"Because the window of the two-state solution is rapidly closing and the next American diplomatic attempt may be the last, the United States must avoid repeating some of the same mistakes that are well documented in this volume. This is not only an extremely well-researched account of what took place but also an important reminder that one cannot keep applying old policies to new realities."

- Marwan Muasher, Vice President for Studies, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a former foreign minister of Jordan

The Peace Puzzle

"Read it and weep. The Peace Puzzle brilliantly dissects what has gone wrong in what the all-star cast of authors rightly describes as 'the decline of American Mideast diplomacy.' The concluding summary of 'lessons learned' should be required reading for any American president who is serious about Arab-Israeli peace."

- David Ignatius, columnist for the Washington Post and author of Body of Lies

The Peace Puzzle

"The failure of American diplomacy in its persistent attempts to coax Arabs and Israelis into a peace settlement had far-reaching consequences for the Middle East, and indeed for U.S. standing in the region. The many memoirs and personal accounts that described this frustrating story of vain efforts and missed opportunities have all offered, inevitably, only partial and frequently one-sided descriptions. This is precisely what makes the thorough and balanced The Peace Puzzle such an indispensable work for our understanding of past failures and the lessons to be drawn from them."

"This is a superb account of the Arab-Israeli peace process. It offers remarkable insights into the process and exceptionally valuable lessons learned. It is the work of brilliant authors who possess unique knowledge and experience in this process. This is a must-read for anyone who desires to truly understand this critical and complex quest for Middle East peace."